Archive for tag:
surgery

This past month has been so exciting for me! Junior surgery has
been my favorite third-year class all semester-but lately it's
gotten even better. We recently graduated from goat and rabbit
surgeries to cat and dog spays. Whoop! We are divided into groups
of three for the semester and rotate though being the surgeon,
assistant surgeon, and anesthetist for the procedures. This past
month, every Friday afternoon cats and dogs from local animal
shelters were transported to the vet school. The student scheduled
to be surgeon that week took care of their assigned animal every
morning and night.
I was the assistant surgeon for our first shelter dog. Though we
were nervous and the surgery took a little longer than what an
experienced vet could do, everything went well, and our new spayed
friend could go back into the world to be adopted. Several of my
classmates got so attached to their surgery dogs that they ended up
taking them home themselves. I wa...
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The summer has quickly and abruptly come to an end and piles of
notes and heavy textbooks are once again attached to my back.
However, although these first few weeks of third-year have been
somewhat overwhelming and fast-paced compared to the previous two
years, I know that this year will be the most rewarding and
interactive year of my professional career thus far.
Beginning this semester, we start our medicine courses and even
get to perform surgeries on live animals. Yes, that's right, live
animals! For me, however, it is a little intimidating knowing that
you are actually responsible for keeping your patient alive during
surgical procedures and making sure that each procedure runs
smoothly. Not only that, but we are also responsible for continual
development of our technical skills including proper use of
surgical instruments and suture patterns. Although intimidating, I
feel excited and prepared to start live surgeries this semester.
Surge...
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This weekend, I had the privilege of participating in the
College's largest, student-led community event of the year: Vet
School Open House. For 18 years, the College of Veterinary Medicine
& Biomedical Sciences has opened its doors for the public to
experience what veterinary medicine is all about. Hundreds of
students and volunteers come together on this special day to
dedicate their time to educate and entertain nearly 15,000 guests
with a vast array of animal exhibits and demonstrations. This year,
I had the honor to serve as a co-chair and surgeon for the famous
Teddy Bear Surgery.
Teddy Bear Surgery is a child's dream. Boys and girls of all
ages are encouraged to bring their favorite stuffed animal to the
small animal hospital for "surgical repair". Tattered and torn from
years of love (or, an unfortunate run-in with the family dog),
these fuzzy friends often arrive with frayed stitching, broken
arms, missing eyes, and some even requi...
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Every morning and evening this week, I'm in charge of the care
of our surgery patient. Consequently, my weekend started at 6:00 am
Saturday morning. I might have been up, but the sun definitely was
not. Thank goodness our surgery animal this week is a healthy,
spry, little cat that doesn't mind a thorough physical exam (minus
the temperature-taking, but honestly, who wouldn't be a little
upset about a rectal thermometer?). After finishing the paperwork
for our kitty, I headed to the large animal hospital for an equine
castration clinic that one of our veterinary student chapters
organized for the community.
At this clinic, we vet students had the opportunity to handle
every aspect of patient care with castrations in the field. We all
rotated between anesthetist, surgeon, and assistant surgeon with
each horse. I have watched numerous castrations in the past, but
getting a chance to perform one was a great experience. We had
clinicians and experi...
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This week is the first of our surgeries for the area animal
shelters. Because I have the position of surgeon this week in my
group, I have been responsible for the daily care of our patient
this week. We have been assigned a beautiful mixed breed female dog
to spay tomorrow. My best guess is that she is a German Shepherd
and Catahoula mix. We have also guessed that she is between 1.5 and
2 years old. Her kind, playful nature is a true testament to her
innate trust of humans. Through all the hardship that she has
endured in her life, she still has a positive happy outlook.
I am nervous about performing the spay tomorrow. Although I know
that I am fully prepared to perform the procedure, I am hopeful
that it will go smoothly. I can't wait for her to recover and be
ready for her new home. I am hopeful that a family will see the
same beauty and caring eyes as I do, and that someone will show her
that life can be better than she has ever experienced....
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It's a new year and classes are getting really exciting.
As a third year student, I finally get to choose my elective
courses and spend time in both the small and large animal
hospitals. I recently spent the day in small animal surgery,
where I watched a fourth year student perform a cat spay (under the
watchful eye of one of the small animal surgeons). It feels
both strange and exciting to know that that will be me a year from
now! During the surgery, another third year student and I
were grilled on the pharmacology and surgery prep that was going
on. I had to quickly recall information from last year to
answer questions about opioids, analgesics, induction drugs and
inhalant anesthetics, as well as sterile surgical preparation.
Once the surgery was finished, we grabbed a quick lunch and then
learned how to operate a surgical laser. We practiced holding
and moving the stylet by writing our names on a wet pops...
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Howdy!
Third year has started off great so far. It is going to
definitely be a drastic change from the first two years of
veterinary school. First and second year consisted of a set
curriculum of mostly lecture. During third year, we get the
opportunity to select our own elective classes, begin a few days of
clinical rotations, and perform surgery.
Yesterday, I was anesthetist for my first surgery of the year.
It was exciting and absolutely nerve-wracking all at the same time.
Being in charge of monitoring and maintaining the life of an animal
while surgery is being performed is a huge responsibility.
Surgery requires an enormous amount of preparation, but when you
are in the operating room, your patient is under anesthesia, and
the surgeon makes the first incision. You are glad that you are
prepared. It is important not only to know how to use the equipment
and surgical instruments, what to expect during surgery, but also
how to respo...
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